Sean Panikkar

Last updated

Sean Panikkar (born September 17, 1981) is an American operatic tenor. He has performed in many leading opera houses both nationally and internationally, including the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Fort Worth Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and Carnegie Hall.

Contents

Early years

Sean Panikkar was born and raised in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, the second son of Sri Lankan immigrants—a father of Sinhalese and Indian ancestry and a Tamil mother. [1] Panikkar first began studying voice as a high schooler with Juilliard-trained soprano Li Ping Liu. [2] At the University of Michigan he double majored in civil engineering and vocal performance for three years before committing himself entirely to music. At the School of Music, Theatre & Dance there he studied with Daniel Washington and Luretta Bybee and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in vocal performance. [3] He participated in the Merola training program of the San Francisco Opera in 2004 [4] and held an Adler Fellow with that company in 2005 and 2006. [5]

Career

Panikkar has performed several roles with Metropolitan Opera, including Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette under the baton of Plácido Domingo, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor conducted by Marco Armiliato, Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos led by Kirill Petrenko, and Prunier in La rondine . Further credits include roles in The Queen of Spades , Le pauvre matelot , The Maid of Orleans , Manon Lescaut , Tristan und Isolde , Fidelio , Norma , and Die Zauberflöte with the San Francisco Opera, as well as Nabucco at Washington National Opera, the title role of Béatrice et Bénédict with Opera Boston, Weill's Lost in the Stars at the Glimmerglass Festival, Salome at Washington National Opera and the Saito Kinen Festival, and Lensky in Eugene Onegin and Count Almaviva in The Ghosts of Versailles with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

During the 2013/14 season, Panikkar sang Rodolfo in La bohème at the Royal Albert Hall in London, [6] Macduff in Macbeth at Palm Beach Opera, [7] and return engagements with Pittsburgh Opera as Tamino in The Magic Flute and with Fort Worth Opera as Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles . [8] In the 2014/15 season, he sang in The Death of Klinghoffer at the Metropolitan Opera [9] and in the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli's CO2 at Teatro alla Scala. [10]

In 2013, Panikkar was recruited on short notice to join the classical crossover trio FORTE during season eight of America's Got Talent . [11] Panikkar has released two albums as a member of FORTE: their self-titled debut in 2013, and The Future Classics in 2016. [12] [13]

In March 2018 Panikkar sang the role of Greenhorn in Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick at the Pittsburgh Opera. [14] [15] He then joined the Salzburg Festival in performances of The Bassarids , [16] and in the lead role of Gandhi in Philip Glass's opera Satyagraha . [17] [18] Of his experience in that role he said: [19]

As the first brown person to sing Gandhi, it brought an extra level of emotion to some of the oppressive scenes that doesn’t necessarily come across quite as powerfully when a white singer is doing it.

Panikkar was also named "Artist of the Week" by Opernwelt . [20]

Panikkar began 2019 with a four-night run of the reunited AGT finalist lineup of FORTE at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center in The Villages, Florida. He then visited his family's homeland of Sri Lanka for the first time to present song recitals with soprano Tharanga Goonatilleke and pianist Rohan De Silva. [19] Panikkar began May with the performance of Nadir in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers at Kansas City Lyric Opera. [21] [22]

In summer 2019, Panikkar starred in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Festival d’Aix-En-Provence. [23] In the fall at the Komische Oper Berlin he sang the role of Dionysus in Hans Werner Henze's The Bassarids. [24] In January 2020 he headlined Bizet's Carmen at the English National Opera. [25]

Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of many of his engagements, in October 2020 at Michigan Opera Theater in Detroit he sang the role of Siegfried in an abridged version of Wagner's Götterdämmerung , a radical reinterpretation of that opera set in a parking garage and viewed by audience members driving through in cars. [26]

On November 22, 2022, he sang the role of Leonard Woolf in the stage premiere of Kevin Puts's opera The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera. [27] The performance of December 10 was video-cast as part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series. [28]

Panikkar has been honored by the George London Foundation with the 2007 Robert Jacobson Memorial Award and a 2009 George London Award; he was a First Prize winner of the 2010 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and second-place winner in the 2009 International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition. [29] [30]

Discography

As a member of FORTE

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Corelli</span> Italian opera singer (1921–2003)

    Franco Corelli was an Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, passionate singing and remarkable performances. Dubbed the "prince of tenors", audiences were enchanted by his handsome features and charismatic stage presence. He had a long and fruitful partnership with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City between 1961 and 1975. He also appeared on the stages of most of the major opera houses in Europe and with opera companies throughout North America.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Battle</span> American operatic soprano (born 1948)

    Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hampson</span> American opera singer

    Thomas Walter Hampson is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritz Wunderlich</span> German opera singer

    Friedrich "Fritz" Karl Otto Wunderlich was a German lyric tenor, famed for his singing of the Mozart repertory and various lieder. He died in an accident aged 35.

    <i>Satyagraha</i> (opera) Opera by Philip Glass

    Satyagraha is a 1979 opera in three acts for orchestra, chorus and soloists, composed by Philip Glass, with a libretto by Glass and Constance DeJong.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolando Villazón</span> Mexican tenor (born 1972)

    Rolando Villazón Mauleón is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Hadley</span> American operatic tenor (1952–2007)

    Jerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa, Susannah, and Candide. Hadley was a leading American tenor for nearly two decades. He was mentored by soprano Joan Sutherland and her husband, conductor Richard Bonynge. Leonard Bernstein chose Hadley for his 1989 recording of Candide on Deutsche Grammophon. Aside from singing opera and operetta, Hadley also sang on Broadway.

    <i>The Bassarids</i> Opera by Hans Werner Henze

    The Bassarids is an opera in one act and an intermezzo, with music by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, after Euripides's The Bacchae.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Opera</span> Pittsburghs Opera company and venue

    Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA) Theater. Pittsburgh Opera headquarters is located in the former George Westinghouse Air Brake Factory, 2425 Liberty Avenue, in the Strip District. Pittsburgh Opera has been awarded LEED Silver Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and is the first "green" opera company in the U.S. in the Operations and Maintenance Category. Pittsburgh Opera's headquarters is also the oldest green building in Pittsburgh.

    Gösta Winbergh was a Swedish tenor.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Araiza</span> Mexican tenor

    José Francisco Araiza Andrade, is a Mexican operatic tenor and lied singer who has sung as soloist in leading concert halls and in leading tenor operatic roles in the major opera houses of Europe and North America during the course of a lengthy career. Born in Mexico City, he studied singing at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música de México and later in Germany, with Mozartian tenor Richard Holm, and lieder interpretation with Erik Werba. He made his operatic debut in 1970 in Mexico City as First Prisoner in Beethoven's Fidelio. Araiza initially came to international prominence singing in Mozart and Rossini operas, but in the 1980s broadened his repertoire to include Italian and French lyric tenor roles and Wagnerian roles such as Lohengrin and Walther von Stolzing. He was made a Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera in 1988. Now retired from the opera stage, he teaches singing and serves on the juries of several international singing competitions.

    John Aler was an American lyric tenor who performed in concerts, recitals, and operas. He was particularly known for his interpretations of the works of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Handel.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcello Giordani</span> Italian operatic tenor (1963–2019)

    Marcello Giordani was an Italian operatic tenor who sang leading roles of the Italian and French repertoire in opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. He had a distinguished association with the New York Metropolitan Opera, where he sang in over 240 performances from the time of his debut there in 1993. He founded the Marcello Giordani Foundation to help young opera singers.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Reiner Goldberg</span> German opera singer

    Reiner Goldberg is a German operatic heroic tenor.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Fabiano</span> American operatic tenor

    Michael Fabiano is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Canadian Opera Company, The Royal Opera, and Teatro Real de Madrid among many others. Fabiano is the 2014 Richard Tucker Award winner and the 2014 Beverly Sills Artist Award winner, making him the first singer to win both awards in the same year.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Poplavskaya</span> Russian opera singer (born 1977)

    Marina Poplavskaya is a Russian operatic soprano. Her repertoire includes leading roles in operas of the Romantic era; she is particularly known for her performances in the operas of Verdi.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Forte (vocal group)</span> Operatic pop trio from Americas Got Talent

    Forte is a classical crossover–operatic pop trio comprising tenors Josh Page, Sean Panikkar and Hana Ryu. Forte was created specifically for season eight of America's Got Talent (AGT) in 2013. After weeks of preparation online, the three original members met in person just two days before their first performance together; afterward, the show's rules forced the group to make a personnel change. The new lineup advanced to the final round in September, where Forte finished in fourth place. Following their elimination, the men accepted a recording contract offered by representatives of Columbia Records, who were waiting for them in the hallway offstage.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Larisa Rudakova</span> Russian soprano singer (born 1963)

    Larisa Borisovna Rudakova is a Russian soprano singer.

    John Thomas Holiday Jr. is an American operatic countertenor. His repertoire focuses on the Baroque and contemporary composers, including staged opera and opera in concert, works for voice and orchestra, and experimental mixed-media. He has participated in several world premieres. He has performed with several opera companies in the United States, toured with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and sung in Shanghai and several European cities. He also sings gospel, pop, and jazz; he was a contestant on season 19 of NBC's The Voice, a vocal competition television series.

    Kenneth Riegel was an American opera tenor.

    References

    1. ↑ Daniel, Smriti (May 8, 2016). "Hitting a personal note in JFK". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) . Retrieved May 8, 2016.
    2. ↑ "Rising Stars: An Interview with Sean Panikkar, Part 1" (Interview). Interviewed by William Burnett. Operawarhorses.com. October 27, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
    3. ↑ "Ten Questions with Sean Panikkar". Madison Opera (Interview). October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
    4. ↑ "Program Alumni". Merola Opera Program. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
    5. ↑ "Adler Fellowship Alumni". San Francisco Opera. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
    6. ↑ Hall, George (March 2, 2014). "La Bohème review – 'Jessica Rose Cambio's Mimì offers a grandly expressive soprano'". The Guardian. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
    7. ↑ Erstein, Hap (January 23, 2014). "Pop-opera star appears in Macbeth at Palm Beach Opera". The Palm Beach Post . Retrieved March 18, 2014.
    8. ↑ Weuste, David (April 20, 2014). "Sean Panikkar Wows at Fort Worth Opera – The Pearl Fishers". OperaPulse. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
    9. ↑ Croan, Robert (February 2014). "Die Zauberflöte". Opera News . 78 (8). Retrieved March 18, 2014.
    10. ↑ "Nihilistic Pessimism: CO2 at the Teatro alla Scala". OperaTraveller. May 25, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
    11. ↑ Burnett, William (December 17, 2015). "Singing Opera and Unexpectedly Famous: A Conversation with Sean Panikkar". Opera Warhorses. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
    12. ↑ Weatherford, Mike (December 25, 2013). "Internet helps singers find harmony, TV exposure and their own Vegas show". Las Vegas Review-Journal . Retrieved April 30, 2015.
    13. ↑ FORTE. "Forte Tenors from America's Got Talent: Updates". PledgeMusic . Retrieved March 19, 2016.
    14. ↑ Twinam, John S. (March 19, 2018). "Pittsburgh Opera 2017-18 – Moby Dick: Jake Heggie's Masterpiece Gets Tremendous Performances From Honeywell, Panikkar, Mayes, Among Others". OperaWire. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
    15. ↑ Reynolds, Jeremy (March 18, 2018). "Review: Pittsburgh Opera pits man against nature in 'Moby-Dick'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
    16. ↑ Bezgachina, Katerina (August 22, 2018). "Salzburg Festival 2018 Review: The Bassarids Sean Panikkar & Russell Braun Bring Krzysztof Warlikowsky's Strong Vision To Life". Opera Wire.
    17. ↑ Joshua Barone (November 5, 2018). "Two Ways of Looking at Philip Glass's 'Satyagraha'". New York Times.
    18. ↑ Gordon Williams. "Los Angeles Opera 2018-19 Review: Satyagraha Philip Glass' Opera Is a Transcendent Experience About Opera's Effect On Our Social Conscience". Opera Wire.
    19. 1 2 Daniel, Smriti (February 24, 2019). "The music brought him home". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
    20. ↑ "Artist Of The Week: Sean Panikkar Rising Star Tenor Makes His Anticipated Debut At the Salzburg Festival". Opera Wire. August 13, 2018.
    21. ↑ "BWW Review: THE PEARL FISHERS at KC Lyric Opera". Broadway World.
    22. ↑ "The stunning "The Pearl Fishers" opera at Kauffman Center". Kansas City Live. May 2, 2019.
    23. ↑ "10 Must See Operas For The Summer Season 2019". OperaWire. April 29, 2019.
    24. ↑ Walls, Seth Colter (October 28, 2019). "One of Opera's Great Directors, Binge-Worthy in Berlin". New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
    25. ↑ Wilson, Flora (February 3, 2020). "Carmen review – revival's real stars are Peleggi and the ENO orchestra". The Guardian. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
    26. ↑ Ross, Alex (October 26, 2020). "Wagner's Götterdämmerung in a Detroit Parking Garage". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 30, 2020. Sean Panikkar, a onetime lyric tenor whose voice has lately taken on commanding power and weight, proved thrilling in his brief appearance as Siegfried: I only wish that the abridgment had given him more to do.
    27. ↑ Zachary Woolfe (23 November 2022), "Review: In The Hours, Prima Donnas and Emotions Soar", The New York Times .
    28. ↑ Met program for the performance of The Hours on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
    29. ↑ Staff (September 20, 2009). "Sean Panikkar a young tenor of Sri Lankan heritage emerges in U.S. opera scene" (PDF). Asian Tribune . Retrieved May 8, 2016.
    30. ↑ Daniel, Smriti (August 18, 2013). "Being Asian is an asset in opera". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) . Retrieved March 18, 2014.
    31. ↑ Sean Panikkar at IMDb
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.